Named after the boulevard and rue de Ménilmontant, after the old village of Ménilmontant.
The rue de Ménilmontant was the village's main street; the boulevard, named in 1864, ran along its western edge. The name is recorded in 1224 as Mesniolum mali temporis: a mesnil, or rural estate, of 'bad weather'. 'Mau-temps' is thought to have turned into 'montant' ('rising') because the village stood on a hillside.